Marie recaptures the top album position
Written by roxeteer on June 1, 2000 to Misc.
After dropping to #3 on the Swedish chart, Marie is back at #1 this week. Britney Spears wasn’t able to hold her first place more than one week.
Marie’s album has now been on the chart for nine weeks, for eight of them as #1.
Per: “Now we just hope that fans still remember us”
Written by roxeteer on May 31, 2000 to Misc.
According to Aftonbladet, Roxette’s record deal for the USA is not signed yet, but it will be in the next few days. Per and Marie are very enthusiastic, even though Roxette hasn’t released an album in the States since 1994, mostly because of problems with EMI’s US branch.
Things started to get worse in 1991 when “grunge guru” Gary Gersh became EMI USA’s chief. “After that it was only grunge and Beastie Boys that mattered,” says Per in Expressen. “We did all that we could to have EMI USA not release our greatest hits compilation in 1995.”
Now a revised compilation will be released by small record label Edel America and Per is very optimistic. “The US market is very conservative. In England, it’s impossible to be an ’80s band and make a comeback. But if you’ve had hits in the US, you get respect,” he said. And hits Roxette has made: 13 out of 16 songs on their greatest hits compilation have been on the US chart.
“Now we just hope that the fans in the US still remember us,” says Per in Aftonbladet.
According to Expressen, a new Roxette album will be released internationally in March 2001.
Roxette Video Collection on MTV Brazil
Written by administrator on May 30, 2000 to Misc.
This weekend, MTV Brazil will show a Roxette Video Collection! There was a poll on their site to choose
which artists’ videos would be shown this month. Roxette was one of the acts that received the most votes. Their Video Collection will be broadcast on Sunday at 10pm and reprised next Tuesday at 9am.
Per writing music for bridge opening
Written by tevensso on May 30, 2000 to Misc.
Per Gessle has been commissioned to write a musical piece for the opening of the Öresundsbron (Öresund Bridge) on July 1st. The bridge connects Sweden with Denmark, and includes a lower level for trains. The one-way toll for a car will cost 275 SEK while the train will cost between 70 and 140 SEK.
- Kulturbro (Culture Bridge) (There is also a biennial for art, music and culture, opening on September 15th.)
Marie knocked down from #1
Written by roxeteer on May 29, 2000 to Misc.
Marie’s greatest hits compilation “Äntligen - Bästa [1984-2000]” has dropped down to 3rd place on the Swedish album chart. Britney Spears’ new album went straight to #1 and the compilation of the songs heard in the Eurovision Song Contest went up from 9th place to 2nd place.
Marie’s album was continuously #1 for 7 weeks.
Edel America Records – Roxette’s new label in the US
Written by roxeteer on May 29, 2000 to Misc.
Roxette has finally found a suitable record company to release their material in the USA. Instead of choosing a giant like Sony or Warner, Per and Marie have reached an agreement with a smaller company called Edel America Records, whose parent, Edel Records, is based in Germany.
“We wouldn’t be an important artist for Sony or Warner. But for Edel, we are. We’ll get the highest priority there,” Per and Marie report in an interview published by Hallandsposten.
This new deal is the reason for the delay in the production of the new Roxette album. The album was supposed to be released in the autumn, but is now postponed until February 2001. Then it will be released world-wide — including the USA.
“Have A Nice Day” won’t be released in the US at all. However, Edel will release an updated version of the “Don’t Bore Us - Get To The Chorus” compilation in the autumn. The new version will contain “Wish I Could Fly” and “Stars” from “Have A Nice Day”.
Ten songs recorded for new album
Written by roxeteer on May 29, 2000 to Misc.
Roxette has recorded ten songs so far for their new album. Five more will be recorded when the studio sessions begin again in mid-September. Of those songs, 12 will be chosen for the album.
Clarence Öfwerman and Christoffer Lundquist are still in Roxette’s band. A new face is Jimmy Monell from April Tears. According to Per, “he’s 22 years old and comes from another world,” he’s new to studio working and brings in fresh ideas.
Whether or not there will be a world tour depends on the sales figures. “Touring has two sides. It changes one’s life a lot for a period of time, but it also gives satisfaction to frustrated fans who think that we never ’show’ ourselves to them,” Per says. “You have to ask yourself if it’s worth it — especially now when both me and Marie have a family.”
Gyllene Tider will re-release their first album to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original release date. There are no plans to bring Gyllene Tider back on stage this summer. “Then there would be no audience for Marie…” Per grins. “But seriously, next time Gyllene Tider is on stage, we must have something new and fresh with us.”
This summer, Per will be spending time with his wife Åsa and son Gabriel in their luxury house in Sandhamn, Halmstad.
Per speaks about HAND’s lack of success
Written by roxeteer on May 29, 2000 to Misc.
“Have A Nice Day” wasn’t as big a success as Roxette had hoped. The album has so far sold “only” 1.9 million copies. Per thinks there are several reasons for this.
“Looking back, I think now that the album feels a bit uneven,” says Per. “And, we simply chose the wrong single tracks.” Per thinks that “Wish I Could Fly” was a good choice, but the second single “Anyone” wasn’t. “Ballads traditionally are not very strong summer singles.”
“It was the English EMI that had pressure on us — against the wish from the European headquarters — to release ’Anyone’ as the second single. And that’s what we did. But when it flopped, England didn’t want to release it at all.”
Marie’s birthday today!
Written by roxeteer on May 29, 2000 to Misc.
Gun-Marie Fredriksson, born in Össjö on May 30, 1958, celebrates her birthday today.
Happy birthday to Marie from The Daily Roxette and all her fans!
Marie ready to hit the road
Written by roxeteer on May 28, 2000 to Misc.
Swedish web portal World Online has a short article about Marie’s summer tour. Marie tells once more how nice it is to tour in Sweden and to sing her Swedish songs live again. The tour premiere is on July 12 in Borgholm castle, familiar to those who have seen “Listen To Your Heart” and “Dangerous” videos. According to the article, Marie has a 7-person band backing her up on the tour.
